The stock, plant and machinery, goodwill, business and book debt of the company were bought by 2011 Trading Limited, which is also under the directorship of YPP chief executive Stuart Maclaren, for £216,617.81.
An initial payment of £99,742.81 was paid on 3 March with £116,875 to be made in 11 monthly-installments.
Jobs for all 31 members of staff have been saved as a result of the deal and YPP will continue to trade under its existing name.
Speaking to Printweek, Maclaren said: “This has been an extremely challenging time. Our core business in events literally disappeared overnight and even though we managed to do a quick Covid response, by the time the need for that started dropping, live events still hadn’t returned so we just had no work.
“I was putting my own money into the business and put in £35,000 in December, thinking we had an investment deal sorted, but that fell through in January. So, we had to consider all options. In the end, this was in the best interest for those involved and we’ve managed to secure all our employees’ jobs.
“Looking ahead, live events are all starting to come back so although it’s still a very challenging time for us, I’m hopeful that we will be successful.”
Maclaren said that he had spoken to all of YPP’s suppliers and made a point of picking up the phone to speak to people to be open and transparent.
“I’ve been amazed by the support we’ve had. I was a youngster getting into the business, I’ve always tried to push boundaries and we’ve made some big changes in the market in the last 10 years. We’re quite well-known and I’ve had lots of people including numerous competitors calling me to offer advice and support. It’s been a tough time for this industry over the last two years and I would always offer the sort of support I’ve had to anyone else who is going through it.”
Maclaren founded Your Print Partner in October 2011, specialising in large-format print and print-on-demand textiles and built the business up to a successful operation, turning over more than £4m annually by 2020.
In recent years YPP has invested heavily, purchasing new machinery and the freehold for its 3,000sqm Pyke Road, Lincoln headquarters, moving in in 2017. It also began to diversify in 2015, launching consumer gift business Santa Snacks and then going on to launch personalised merchandise web-to-print platform Custom Gifts in 2019 after securing a £1m investment from a local business fund.
However, from 2018 to 2020, despite growing turnover from £1.7m to £4.6m the business made losses of £498,000, £1.1m, and £181,000 in each respective year, according to the administrator’s figures.
Furthermore, the pandemic and its subsequent restrictions decimated YPP’s core business of printing for live events leading to an overnight loss of £2.5m in work. Despite quickly pivoting to produce Covid-related products and achieving a turnover of £2.9m in 2021, losses amounted to £515,000.
The business had also sought new investment in 2021 in order to secure the future of the business but a deal fell through, ultimately resulting in YPP’s decision to appoint joint administrators Michael Chamberlain and Gareth Peckett of Chamberlain & Co, based at Resolution House, 12 Mill Hill, Leeds LS1 5DQ, on 3 March.
Prior to the administrators’ appointment, following its engagement by YPP’s board of directors on 7 February, the company’s business and assets were advertised for sale for almost four weeks as part of an accelerated sale process.
As a result of the marketing, the administrator received 59 expressions of interest. Of the interested parties, it said the only offer received for the company’s business and assets was from 2011 Trading Limited.
According to the Notice of Administrator’s Proposals filed on Companies House YPP owed £2.1m to unsecured creditors and £929,000 to secured creditors, namely HMRC. According to the report, the administrators will aim to realise property in order to make a distribution to one or more secured or preferential creditors.
